Fraser Valley (Dan Kinvig) – Men’s Basketball: Sekhon sparks Cascades to blowout win over Heat
Jordyn Sekhon exploded for a career-high 30 points to lead the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team to a 97-79 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat on Sunday afternoon in Kelowna.
It was the epitome of a bounce-back effort, both for Sekhon individually and the Cascades as a group. On Saturday, the UFV squad had dropped a 91-79 decision to the Heat, and Sekhon was limited to three points on 1-of-6 from the field.
On Sunday, the veteran swingman out of Abbotsford’s W.J. Mouat Secondary flipped the script – he went 9-for-11 from the field, highlighted by five three-pointers, and was flawless from the free throw line (7-for-7) as the Cascades won big.
The result allowed UFV (9-5) to clinch third place in the West Division; the seventh-place Heat fell to 2-12.
“After a three-point performance yesterday, I had to come out and do something,” Sekhon said with a wry chuckle afterward. “I feel like I came with a little bit better outlook today. We were frustrated to lose yesterday, so that gave us a little bit of extra fire, and we needed a win to clinch third.
“I my role, it can be hard to get going (offensively) – I’m not a primary ball-handler. But it was nice to see that first shot go in. And I feel like once the first few went in, I was looking to get the ball in my hands more at the end of the game. It was a cool feeling, because I haven’t been in that position very often.”
In stark contrast to Saturday’s series opener, the Cascades got off to a flying start behind Sekhon’s hot shooting. He drained a pair of three-pointers and converted a fast-break layup as UFV opened a 12-3 lead, prompting a UBCO timeout.
The Cascades took a 22-15 lead into the second quarter, and they opened on a 10-2 run to stretch the advantage to 32-17. The highlight was a fast-break dunk from Jamar Ergas, ignited by a steal from Ahmad Athman and subsequent quick passes from Jake Willemsen and Zubair Seyed to set up Ergas for the one-handed throwdown. They maintained that double-digit cushion into the break, up 53-37, with Sekhon piling up 15 points in the half despite being limited to nine minutes due to foul trouble.
The Heat mustered a 24-9 surge to open the third quarter – their aggressive defence was forcing turnovers, and they were able to get to the rim offensively to cut the deficit to 62-61. Sekhon stayed hot for the Cascades, though – he scored five quick points to end the frame as UFV took a 73-67 lead to the fourth.
Sekhon and Aidan Wilson ignited an 8-2 run to open the final frame, restoring the double-digit lead, and UFV pulled away from there.
The Cascades was -13 on the boards in Saturday’s loss, but they battled the taller Heat to a near-stalemate on Sunday. UBCO’s rebounding edge was just 42-41.
Wilson had a big game off the bench for UFV, scoring 16 points and counting five offensive rebounds among his six total boards. Dylan Kinley (15 points) and Kyle Claggett (11) also scored in double figures, and Vick Toor dished out six assists.
UBCO’s Kevin Hamlet had another big game for the Heat – after racking up 27 points on Saturday, he scored 22 in the rematch and added nine rebounds. BB Chuks-Mady (13) and Liban Yousef (12) also registered double-digit points for the hosts.
“We lost the rebounding battle yesterday, but today we were getting rebounds, deflections and steals, and getting out in transition,” Sekhon noted. “It was overall just a better effort from the whole team.
Men’s Volleyball: WolfPack fend off Cascades in four
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team pushed once again for its initial Canada West victory, but a resilient performance from the Thompson Rivers WolfPack yielded a four-set win for the visitors on Sunday afternoon at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Cascades held leads in each of the sets, but the WolfPack came through in the clutch, prevailing 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21 to sweep the three-game weekend series in Abbotsford.
UFV (0-9) and TRU (4-7) might be sick of each other at this point, after three games in three days, but they lock horns for a fourth time inside of a week this coming Wednesday in Kamloops (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“We started off pretty well, I thought – we had big leads in almost every set,” UFV bench boss Nathan Bennett said afterward.
“I think we have a great team, I really do. I believe in these guys. We have the right people here. We just need to find a way to make the right decisions when it matters.”
Bennett adjusted his lineup in order to get his starters some rest, inserting outside hitters Caleb Kastelein and Bailey Burdick, setter Graham Walkey, and middle Stefan Halas. They brought great energy early, as the Cascades built a 10-5 lead in the first set with Tyson Ardell finding success in the middle. TRU closed to within 16-15 at the technical timeout, though, surged ahead 23-21, and closed it out 25-23 after a Matthew Hamilton block.
The Cascades went up 11-7 in the second, with Ferreira and Burdick picking up key kills, but the WolfPack quickly closed to within 11-10. Later on, the visitors reeled off five straight points with Thundersky Walkingbear at the service line to go up 22-18, and they wrapped it up 25-23 on a Samuel Elgert kill.
The WolfPack raced out to a 16-11 lead in the third and appeared poised to close out the match, but the Cascades rallied to equalize 22-22 with Ferreira supplying some timely kills. With the score 23-23, TRU was assessed a red card which gave UFV a 24-23 edge, and Jonas Van Huizen and Noah Bouius combined to block Elgert for the winning point.
The Cascades looked to be in good shape to extend the match, cruising to a 6-2 lead in the fourth behind a pair of Caleb Kastelein kills, and they would maintain that margin, leading 19-14 after a Nimo Benne kill. But the WolfPack would score nine of the next 10 points, with Rylan Ilbbetson and Mason Sodaro making service runs. A Benne kill would give the Cascades some life, but a Hamilton kill and a UFV hitting error ended it 25-21.
Kastelein had a big game for the Cascades – his 14 kills were a game-high, and he added three blocks. Ferreira had 11 kills and 10 digs, Benne come off the bench for seven kills on 12 swings, and Burdick added six kills. Walkey finished with 22 assists.
Elgert and Anton Napolitano tied for team-high honours with nine kills apiece for the WolfPack, Hamilton had eight of his own, and Napolitano and Kyle Taylor had 11 digs each.
